DeRusha Eats: Travail Kitchen & Amusements
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – When Bob Gerken is cooking salmon tableside, or diners walk through Mike Brown or James Winberg's station in the kitchen to assemble their dish, you know you're experiencing something very different.
Travail Kitchen and Amusements in downtown Robbinsdale has been winning raves and gaining fans since 2010.
"Overall the mindset is, what's next, what's next what's next, what's next" Winberg said.
This trio of chefs has created a restaurant serving foods expected from a fine-dining restaurant in an environment that is decidedly unexpected.
"How much is kitchen, how much is amusements?" WCCO reporter Jason DeRusha asked.
"I'd say it's 85 percent kitchen, and about 15 percent amusements," Brown said.
They built much of the restaurant with their own labor in 2010, using $60,000 they scraped together from their families and their savings.
"We pulled some money out of our parents and they said don't mess this up because this is our retirement," Brown said..
They haven't messed it up.
Their first location had long lines of people waiting to experience Travail. After a couple years, and a Kickstarter campaign, they built a new restaurant across the street and converted the original Travail into a pizza place, "Pig Ate My Pizza."
Winberg said he just found the original business plan.
"It's hard to reflect on it. But that moment when you do reflect on it, especially in this case, it was.. we're really doing what we set out to do," Winberg
The trio of chefs have been semifinalists for the James Beard Best Chef: Midwest Award four times, including in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016.
Over the years, the concept has evolved. Travail started with an a la carte menu, but now only does tasting menus. Diners get about 19 different courses of food for less than $100. Instead of long lines, Travail sells tickets where guests pre-pay for dinner.
The food is designed to delight. One dish serves up what looks like two potatoes, but only one is a potato, it's stuffed with a mustard, and the other is a boudin blanc sausage.
"The food can have an 'Aha!' moment, that is an amusement," Winberg said.
You might parade through the kitchen or the chefs might parade through the dining room.
"We don't tell people we're giving them the experience of taking a blank plate and creating a dish, but that's what we're doing," Brown said.
The vibe in the dining room is like a party; sometimes people even dress up in costumes, there are stuffed animals in the rafters of the ceiling and it's all about bringing incredible food to people who would never go into a traditional fine-dining restaurant.
"We just apply the fact that we want good food to get you. We want you to feel as comfortable with that as possible," Brown said.
But don't let the circus distract you from the fact that these are incredibly talented chefs, working obsessively to hone their craft.
"When someone's like, 'Wow, I love this place because it's not pretentious.' I know that that is the easiest way for them to communicate what they're feeling. But I I feel like what they're really saying is, 'Wow, you guys really connected to us tonight,'" Brown said.
Travail Kitchen & Amusements is located at 4124 W. Broadway Avenue in Robbinsdale.
On Sunday, June 26, Travail is holding a party at Lakeview Terrace Park in Robbinsdale. Tickets cost $13 at the door, $10 in advance. Kids under 12 are free. Admission tickets cover music, games, etc. Food and drink tickets will be available for purchase at the event for $2 each. Most food and drink items cost between two or four tickets.